Radiation-proof strip for wall and ceiling panel having a groove formed by two bifurcations



Jan. 17, 1967 B. DAVELLA 3,299,270

RADIATION-PROOF STRIP FOR WALL AND CEILING PANEL HAVING A GROOVE FORMEDBY TWO BIFURCATIONS Filed NOV. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3O INVENTOR.

4770NEY61 Jan. 17,- 1967 B. DAVELLA 3,299,270

RADIATION-PROOF STRIP FOR WALL AND CEILING PANEL A HAVING A GROOVEFORMED BY TWO BIFURCATIONS Filed Nov. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /5 /6 u!11 r l I \C mwfir /e' /7 (/3 zZ IP16. s. FIG. 6.

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United States Patent 3,299,270 RADIATION-PROOF STREP FOR WALL AND CEIL-ING PANEL HAVING A GROOVE FORMED BY TWQ BIFURCATIQNS Benjamin A.DAvelia, 1012 N. 7th St.,

Belleville, NJ. 07109 Filed Nov. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 516,195 3 Claims.(Cl. 250-108) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copendingUS. patent application Serial No. 298,751, filed July 30, 1963 (nowabandoned).

This invention relates to interior facing elements for rooms, and moreparticularly to a radiation-proof interior facing element for a roomwhich is impervious to X-ray and similar types of radiation.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedradiation-proof interior, facing element for a room, said element beingsimple in construction, being easy to install, and being especiallyadaptable for use in laboratories and in medical ofiices wherein X-rayand similar equipment is employed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedradiation-proof facing strip or panel to be employed for preventingX-ray and similar types of radiation from escaping from the confines ofa room or other enclosure, the facing strip or panel being inexpensiveto manufacture, durable in construction, and being attractive inappearance.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedradiation-proof wall or ceiling panel element of the tongue-and-groovetype, the panel element being especially useful for providing an insidefacing for X-ray rooms and similar enclosures wherein equipment such asX-ray machines and other radiation-emitting devices are employed, thefacing serving to prevent the escape of radiation from such equipment,and, therefore, serving to prevent harm or injury to persons outside theroom from such radiation.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a roomprovided with wall and ceiling facing elements constructed in accordancewith the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a wall panel elementprovided with radiation-proof backing as constructed in accordance withthe present invention, as employed, for example, in a room illustratedin FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an inverted perspective view of a ceiling panel providedwith radiation-proof backing, as employed in a room illustrated inFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal crosssectional view takensubstantially on the line 4-4 of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view of an inside vertical cornermember employed in a room illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of an outside corner member employed inthe wall of a room illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary enlarged top view showing the manner in whichthe tongue portion of one panel strip is engageable in the grooveportion on a longitudinal edge of another panel strip in installing thewall panel strip members to provide an inside facing such as thatillustrated in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged, detail sectional view taken "ice substantiallyon the section line 8-8 of FIGURE 3, looking in the direction of thearrows.

Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates a room containingX-ray or similar radiation-emitting equipment, for example, a medicalX-ray room. In accordance with the present invention the walls andceiling of the room 11 are provided with radiation-proof facing means toconfine the X-ray radiation from the equipment in the room and toprevent such radiation from escaping through the room walls and ceiling.Thus, the Walls are provided with inside facing elements consisting ofvertical elongated strips or panels, designated generally at 12, andcomprising rigid tongue-and-groove assemblies. Each strip 12 comprisesan elongated generally rectangular body of rigid nonmetallic material,shown at 13, such as wood or asbestos, the body 13 being formed with onelongitudinal edge portion of reduced thickness, shown at 14, to define atongue, and being formed on its opposite longitudinal edge with a groove15 adapted to receive the tongue of an adjacent panel element 12. Alayer 16 of lead, which is impervious to radiation, is secured on therear face of the main body 13, covering substantially the entire area.Secured on the front face of said main body is a relatively thin layer17 of laminated facing material, such as plastic sheet material providedwith a suitable decorative pattern. The plastic sheet material maycomprise Formica or similar plastic sheet material commonly employed fordecorative facings.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the tongue portions 14 are receivable in grooveportions 15 of adjacent panels, the groove portions 15 beingsubstantially larger in width than the tongue portions 14 of the bodyelements 13 to enable thicker sheets of lead 16 to be secured to therear faces of the panel elements, if so desired. As shown in FIGURE 7,the groove 15 has a seating portion 18 adapted to receive the frontexposed tongue face 19 of the adjacent panel element, the distance fromthe front plane of the decorative facing lamination 17 of the seat 18being substantially the same as the distance of the surface 19 of themating panel element from the front plane of its decorative facinglamination 17.

It will be seen that when the surfaces 19 and 18 are engaged with eachother the decorative laminations 17 of the corresponding panel elementsare substantially flush with each other. It will be further seen thatthe radiationimpervious rear laminations 16 of the adjacent panelsegments overlap at the joints therebetween so as to provide completeradiation-proof connections at said joints.

It will further be noted that the bifurcations forming the grooves 15include one bifurcation formed with the lead sheet 16 and a secondbifurcation on which is formed the sheet 18. The bifurcation includingthe lead sheet 16 is longer than the bifurcation on which is formed thesheet 18 as the last mentioned bifurcation is given its strength by thecore material which, as stated previously, may be wood or asbestos. Ifthis bifurcation was as long as the bifurcation including the lead sheet16 it would create a weakened portion on the panel which would beantithetical to the object of the present invention, i.e. to produce astrong room. However, it is necessary to have the bifurcation includingthe lead sheet 16 of a substantial length in order to prevent, when infacing relation with the tongue 14, the passage of stray gamma rays outof the room. The lead sheet 16 insures that this last mentionedbifurcation will maintain its strength even though it is of a considerable length.

The outside corner portions of the facing structure of the room 11comprise vertical right-angled corner panel elements consisting ofright-angled bodies of nonmetallic rigid material, shown at 13 in FIGURE4, the rear surfaces of said bodies being provided withradiation-impervious laminations 16 of lead, and the front faces of thebodies 13 being provided with decorative covering laminations 17 ofdecorative sheet plastic material, similar to the facing laminations 17previously described. As shown in FIGURE 4, the longitudinal edges ofthe outside corner members are formed with grooves 15 similar to thosepreviously described for the panel elements 12, said grooves beingadapted to receive the tongue portions 14 of the adjacent wall panelelements.

The inside vertical portions of the wall assembly of the room 11 aresimilarly formed of right-angled bodies provided at their rear faceswith laminations 16 of lead, impervious to radiation, and provided attheir front faces with thin strips of decorative plastic materialsimilar to the sheet material 17. Thus, in a typical embodiment shown inFIGURE 4, the inside corner members comprise vertical rigid bodyelements 23 and 24 of nonmetallic material, such as wood or asbestos,the body 23 having a facing on its inside surface of decorative plasticmaterial, shown at 25. The body 25 is rigidly secured to the membercomprising body 23 and facing 25, and the body 24 is provided with aninside facing 26 of decorative plastic material similar to the materialemployed for the laminations 17, 16 and 25.

The bifurcations forming the grooves 15 in the right angle cor-nerelements of FIGURE 4 are formed in the same manner as the bifurcationsdiscussed with respect to the panels shown in FIGURE 7.

The inside corner assemblies comprising elements 23 and 24 are providedwith longitudinal grooves 15 at their side edges similar to thoseprovided for the outside corner members, the grooves 15 being adapted toreceive tongue elements on adjacent wall panel members 12 in the mannerillustrated in FIGURE 4.

The ceiling of the room comprises a plurality of square panels 3t), eachpanel comprising a generally square body of rigid nonmetallic materialformed with a pair of tongues 31, 31 at two adjacent side edges of thebody and formed with corresponding right-angled longitudinal grooves orrecesses 32 at the other two adjacent edges of the body, the grooves 32corresponding to grooves 15, and the tongues 31 corresponding to theedge portion 14 of the panel. The top surfaces of the ceiling panelbodies are provided with laminations 33 of lead, so that when theceiling is completely assembled it is covered by a substantiallycontinuous lamination of lead defined by the respective squarelaminations 33 on the ceiling panels 30. The ceiling panels are securedto suitable fram ing, such as furring strips, or the like, in the usualmanner employed to install conventional ceiling panels. The ceilingpanel main body members may comprise any suitable composition, such aspaper, asbestos, or fiber material suitably compressed or rigidified, orthe like.

The grooves 32 in the ceiling panel 30 have the bifurcations forming thesame of a similar proportional length to the bifurcations of the grooves15 discussed with respect to FIGURES 4 and 7.

While certain specific embodiments of an improved radiation-proof Walland ceiling elements have been disclosed in the foregoing description,it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit ofthe invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it isintended that no limitations be placed on the invention except asdefined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A radiation-proof wall element comprising an elongated substantiallyflat strip of rigid nonmetallic material of uniform width having atleast one longitudinal edge of reduced thickness to define a tongue andformed at its opposite edge with a longitudinal groove adapted toreceive the tongue of an adjacent strip, a layer of lead secured on oneface of said strip covering its entire area including said first namedtongue, and a relatively thin layer of plastic facing material securedon and covering substantially the entire area of the opposite face ofsaid strip, said groove being formed by two bifurcations along an edgeof said element, one bifurcation including the layer of lead, the otherbifurcation including the layer of plastic facing material, the onebifurcation having a length substantially greater than said otherbifurcation, said tongue having a length equal to said one bifurcation,the thickness of said one bifurcation and its layer of lead beingsubstantially equal to the thickness of said other bifurcation in itslayer of plastic facing material.

2. A room manufactured of the radiation-proof wall elements of claim 1with adjacent panels having the tongue thereof fitted within the grooveof a second panel with the layer of lead face of the tongue in facingrelation with the one bifurcation of the other panel and the layer oflead on both of said panels facing the interior of the room.

3. The room of claim 2 including corner strips for joining, at an angle,two panels of the type set forth in claim 1, said corner strip includingat least one longitudinally extending groove adapted to, receive thetongue of a panel to be joined to the strip of said groove being formedby a first and second bifurcation, said first corner strip bifurcationhaving a layer of lead on the outside surface thereof facing theinterior of the room, the other bifurcation of said corner strip havinga thin layer of plastic material secured thereon and covering thesurface of said corner strip facing the interior of the room, said firstcorner strip bifurcation being substantially longer than said othercorner strip bifurcation, said first corner strip bifurcation having alength equal to the length of said panel tongue, the thickness of saidfirst corner strip bifurcation and its layer of lead being substantiallyequal to the thickness of said other corner strip bifurcation and itslayer of plastic facing material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,846,658 2/1932Rockwell 2092 2,183,790 12/1939 Dillehray et al. 250-l08 X 2,720,10510/1955 Billups 250l08 2,825,099 3/1958 Simmons 2092 X RALPH G. NILSON,Primary Examiner. S. ELBAUM, Assistant Examiner.

1. A RADIATION-PROOF WALL ELEMENT COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLYFLAT STRIP OF RIGID NONMETALLIC MATERIAL OF UNIFORM WIDTH HAVING ATLEAST ONE LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF REDUCED THICKNESS TO DEFINE A TONGUE ANDFORMED AT ITS OPPOSITE EDGE WITH A LONGITUDINAL GROOVE ADAPTED TORECEIVE THE TONGUE OF AN ADJACENT STRIP, A LAYER OF LEAD SECURED ON ONEFACE OF SAID STRIP COVERING ITS ENTIRE AREA INCLUDING SAID FIRST NAMEDTONGUE, AND A RELATIVELY THIN LAYER OF PLASTIC FACING MATERIAL SECUREDON AND COVERING SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE AREA OF THE OPPOSITE FACE OFSAID STRIP, SAID GROOVE BEING FORMED BY TWO BIFURCATIONS ALONG AN EDGEOF SAID ELEMENT, ONE BIFURCATION INCLUDING THE LAYER OF LEAD, THE OTHERBIFURCATION INCLUDING THE LAYER OF PLASTIC FACING MATERIAL, THE ONEBIFURCATION HAVING A LENGTH SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN SAID OTHERBIFURCATION, SAID TONGUE HAVING A LENGTH EQUAL TO SAID ONE BIFURCATION,THE THICKNESS OF SAID ONE BIFURCATION AND ITS LAYER OF LEAD BEINGSUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE THICKNESS OF SAID OTHER BIFURCATION IN ITSLAYER OF PLASTIC FACING MATERIAL.